Judge Says City Hall Bans Unconstitutional

Some protesters were banned from City Hall Plaza for up to two years during last year's Occupy Austin protests.

KUT News

A federal judge says the City of Austin can no longer ban people from City Hall's plaza.

The case revolves around a practice that came to light last year, amid the Occupy Austin protest at City Hall. Some Occupy members were issued criminal trespass notices and told they were banned from the plaza, sometimes for up to two years.

“Essentially what it did was it put the burden on the citizen to prove that the citizen had the right to exercise their first amendment, rather than vice versa,” said Jim Harrington, who directs the Texas Civil Rights Project and was one of the attorneys represented Sanchez and Sleeman.

The city did have a process to appeal the ban, but the judge found that violates a citizen’s right to due process.

Amidst the tarps, sleeping bags, and food wrappers at City Hall during the Occupy Austin protests last fall, three people were not who they appeared to be. Not occupiers, but infiltrators.

Known as "Butch," "Dirk," and "Rick," all three were undercover officers with the Austin Police Department.

Occupiers say that "Butch," aka APD detective Shannon Dowell, went beyond infiltration and actively encouraged members of the movement to create and deploy a homemade device called a "lockbox." The device enables protestors to anchor themselves to each other, or an object, in a way that is almost police-proof. Several protestors used the devices in a protest at the Houston port, and were arrested on felony obstruction charges.

Update: KUT News has received a statement from the Texas Department of Public Safety. Here's DPS Media and Communications Press Secretary Tom Vinger:

On 08/09, at approximately 6p.m., Corey Williams and Audrey Steiner were arrested for Criminal Mischief, class C misdemeanor. Williams and Steiner were observed chalking the sidewalks at 11th Street and Congress Avenue across from the Capitol.

The charges might be enhanced to a class B misdemeanor if the cost to the city of Austin is $50 or more but less than $500. This is based on the cost to clean the chalk off of the sidewalks.

According to the Criminal Mischief law (28.03), “a person commits an offense if, without the effective consent of the owner, intentionally or knowingly makes markings, including inscriptions, slogans, drawings, or paintings on the tangible property of the owner.”

Original post: Two supporters of Occupy Austin were arrested downtown yesterday, charged with criminal mischief for what appears to be drawing on the sidewalk with chalk.